After 8 cancer-free years, active woman and Komen volunteer receives second cancer diagnosis

Many women suffer from cystic breasts and are told by their doctors that they have nothing to worry about. The same was true for Kathy Mullaney-Van Doorne, an active woman who likes to bike, hike and kayak.

“I had been bothered by painful, cystic breasts for a number of years. My doctors told me not to worry, that they would watch them, but if they bothered me too much, they would take them out,” Mullaney-Van Doorne said.

By 2002, the cysts were so sore that it hurt to roll over in bed, so she asked her surgeon to remove them. Although a mammogram and ultrasound showed nothing amiss, Mullaney-Van Doorne still insisted she wanted the cysts removed, which was done in June of that year.

“After the procedure I got a call from the doctors saying that the cysts were OK, but they had found cancer between the cysts that had not shown up on the tests,” she said.

Since she didn’t have clean margins, Mullaney-Van Doorne elected to have a bilateral mastectomy. After eight rounds of chemotherapy, she was told that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, and she needed a stronger chemo cycle.

The treatment worked and after five years of being cancer-free, Mullaney-Van Doorne decided to find a way to celebrate. She read an ad about the Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk — 60 miles of walking three days in a row, camping out at night — and she tried it out.

She enjoyed it so much that thus far she has participated in four of the 3-Day events — two in Michigan and two in Atlanta, Ga. She hopes to do one in Tampa Bay in October. The Komen 3-Day for the Cure is sponsored by the national organization and all dollars raised go to that entity.

A year ago, Mullaney-Van Doorne started having problems with her left shoulder while cross-training at the YMCA. It was first diagnosed as bicep tendonitis, but when it didn’t respond to physical therapy, she had an MRI that revealed her cancer had metastisized to her bones.

“After eight years of being cancer-free, I figured I was in the clear, so it was a total shock,” she said.

Her arm was radiated and she went back on chemo. This past July, when Mullaney-Van Doorne was getting ready to leave for Boston to participate in her fifth Komen 3-Day event, her arm broke because of the cancer. She had surgery for a partial bone replacement and will go back on chemo in mid-September.

Mullaney-Van Doorne got the doctor’s call about her first diagnosis of breast cancer on her birthday. Her boyfriend, now her husband, had planned to propose that night. Instead, they cleared out a room in her house and he moved in to take care of her.

A year later, he did propose on her birthday. In an ironic twist, she received her second cancer diagnosis on her husband’s birthday.

Because of her involvement with the Komen 3-Day event, Mullaney-Van Doorne started volunteering with the local Komen affiliate last winter. She learned more about the local Race and will be walking the 5K for the first time this year, along with friends and family who are supporting her.

She praises the support that she has received from both Emma Powell, executive director of the West Michigan affiliate, and Rita Rivard, Community Health Programs Coordinator.